Following two sets that went down to the wire Thursday night, Sierra’s Sophia Threet ended the third set on an eight-point service run and capped that display with a match-ending back-row kill to give the Timberwolves a 25-20, 25-19, 25-16 a sweep of host Manteca in a battle for second place in the Valley Oak League girls volleyball race.
Sierra now sits a match ahead of the Buffaloes.
“When I am serving, I just want to get it over and in, and to be an aggressive serve,” Threet said. “I don’t want them to have a chance to hit it back at us.
“I got a set at the end, and I wanted to be aggressive and hit it hard, and I knew I could get a kill off of it.”
Threet (eight digs, four kills, three aces) may have capped the match-ending run on a back-row kill, but Amari Currey (seven digs, two aces) started that run with a back-row kill of her own.
“I just focus when I get a shot at a back-row kill,” Currey said. “And we needed to beat the rivals, so I went all out.”
The first two sets followed the same footprint – a tight start with multiple ties followed by the Timberwolves (6-2 VOL, 13-8 overall) going on a big run with Manteca (5-3, 10-6) nearly closing the gap.
In both games Sierra coach Danielle Deerinck called a timeout down the stretch, and in both sets, the Buffaloes did not score a point after the timeout.
But Deerinck did not talk in her timeouts – her captains did.
“I have lost my voice, so today I told my captains Gurjaap Kaur, Sophia Threet and Ellis Denny that the timeouts were up to them,” Deerinck said. “I can’t take credit for those timeouts. I would tell the captains what I wanted them to talk about and we were all working together.
“We had the lead in those first two games, we let them back in and we had to finish it and the captains got that done.”
Denny made 12 digs, Dannica Cesante six with five apiece for Cianna Leonardo (seven assists) and Hanna Threet (five kills, two aces). Delicia Kivalu-Ahio added five kills and Kaur nine assists.
“I knew this was going to be a big game,” Hannah Threet said. “So I wanted to get in the right mindset for it.
“My goal is to be smart and confident out there.”
Nicole Ayala led the Buffaloes attack with11 digs and three assists. Saniyah Anthony (nine kills) and Kamiyah Johnson added eight digs each with six apiece for Riley Ward (13 assists), Peyton McDonald and Amil Gaskins. Ariceli McBroom added three aces and two digs and Talia Shelbourne three digs.
“I think they got deflated in that third set,” Manteca coach Robin Chandler said. “Which is not usually like them. Some of the players that usually step up and play a little bit better were making a lot of errors tonight, and that’s hard, because we rely on them so much.
“We don’t have a deep bench when it comes to outside hitters, but I have enough bench when it comes to defense.”
The Buffaloes kick off the Stockton Classic on Saturday against Newark Memorial at Lathrop High School, while the Timberwolves travel to Lodi to face Roseville with both matches beginning at 9 a.m.
Junior varsity
Manteca 2, Sierra 0
Madeline Nunes (three digs) and Na’ima Calderone paced the Buffaloes attack with each notching eight kills and an ace.
Bella Lee (three kills) and Kylee Pimentel led the Timberwolves with three digs apiece. Danett Cesante tallied five digs and an ace and Isabel Aquinde posted six assists and two aces.
Freshmen
Sierra 2, Manteca 1
The Timberwolves pulled out a thrilling 22-20 third set win and splitting the first two 25-23, 8-25.
Kashvi Malavat tallied three kills, two aces and six service points. Althea Olalde added seven digs, Scarlett Robinson (four assists) six digs and Alyssa Carter (four assists) five digs. Liana Duenas chipped in five kills, Addisyn Rogers four assists and Morgan Tienda two aces.
Lana Jane Bondoc paced the Buffaloes with 10 digs and three aces. Susan Joseph added seven digs and four aces, Katie Anderson six digs and Cali Vanni five digs. Jil Aldape dished out eight assists and two aces.
